The Boulder Series Final Part 6: Bats Are More Helpful Than You Know

Bats are often portrayed as creatures of horror. They’re popular around Halloween and in Scooby Doo intros, and they don’t spring to mind as being cute or friendly, but Boulder has actually befriended the bat, and now they’re existence in our ecosystem is essential, and they’re proving to be quite a good friend to have.

It’s common to see a bat around Colorado, especially in and around Boulder, given our location near to the flat irons, which are an excellent place to be if you are a bat. Though, bats might be more common than you think. 45% of all bat species in the US can be found in Colorado, most of which are located in Boulder County. They are closely monitored by volunteer groups that help to watch the bat activity in Colorado, all coming from a selection of different state park, open space, and wildlife branches of local government for the sake of keeping our bats safe and thriving.

And why would they do this? The many species of bats that live in boulder have actually become incredibly important to the ecosystem in Boulder in many different ways, from their poop, to their diet, and even their significant impact on things like medical care and pesticides.

Bat poop, also known as guano, can actually be used a fertilizer. It is also used in many household items, things commonly used for cleaning up. And they produce a lot of it, with the way they eat bugs. Their diet, is in fact, probably the biggest immediate benefit Boulder gets out of their winged friends. Brown bats are a very common species found here, and a single one can eat six hundred mosquitos in an hour. A whole nest of them can totally change the bug populations in our world, which makes for a better balanced ecosystem, and less bug infested, itchy summers for all.

Bats are also on the leading edge of several kinds of medical interests, such as their amazing hearing and echolocation that continues to be studied to help understand and improve our own technologies for the hearing impaired. They also produce a type of anticoagulants, or a blood thinner, that proves to be even better than many medicines on the market today. And finally, another fantastic perk to having the only flying mammal around in such an abundance would be for the simple fact that where there are less bugs, there are less pesticides. Local farmers can enjoy being able to ensure less chemicals in the food that they produce simply because the bats are already hard at work to fill their bellies.

So, the next time that you see a bat house set up near a body of water, you can be very proud to know that it is there, and to know that the bats that might be huddled inside are doing a lot each day at dusk to ensure that our summers are as bug free as we can make them, and that just having them near us to appreciate and learn from can help society continue to build and grow.

The Boulder Series Part 5: Local Environmental Projects

The Boulder Series

In a state like Colorado, knowing that there is wildlife around us comes to most Boulder residents as a given. It’s no shock to see a deer in the early morning, or see small chipmunks or mice scurrying about while hiking. Many people see a group of prairie dogs and think nothing of them; they’re just a part of our every day lives. However, there are biologists that are paying closer attention, from the smallest creatures to the largest, and they are always working on a variety of projects to help us help the wilder side of our state live with us too.

For instance, many residents know that where there is open space in Colorado, there are prairie dogs who live there. But in fact Boulder County has started to place restrictions on the little guys, but for their own good. With their large numbers, they can seem pretty under foot, and can wander into places that aren’t good for them. So, people working with this prairie dog management have categorized areas that are good, pretty okay, and not a place that’s safe for colonies. This can seem pretty boring, but what we have learned about the colonies and the best place for their habitats has created the opportunity for Boulder County to move forward with plans to reintroduce other species of ferret back into our wildlife, and that’s pretty cool.

Boulder and Jefferson counties have also been keeping busy with research on mountain lions, specifically pertaining to how to protect them from us, and us from them. It’s not unheard of for mountain lions to come into conflict with humans in the past, and as the population of Boulder grows and more and more people are getting out on the trails, these kinds of instances happen more and more often. It’s also true that relocation of the animal in this situation is also not always the best solution and can have results that are even worse for the animal then whatever situation they came from. So, studies have been conducted in the past, and more in the future, for a special kind of condition used with the wild animals so that they are safer, and have the ability to protect themselves better in the future.

It can be pretty lack luster, but the truth of the matter is there is still so much about the wild parts of our state that we don’t understand fully yet. And, if you are in possession of a motion sensor wild life camera, you can help! Boulder County Open Space has a project currently running called Critter Snap, which is an ongoing amalgam of wild beasties in our area, and already has over one hundred volunteers. The purpose is to understand what is around us and how often they come by, but the project is open to all who wish to view it as it is underway. So, if you’d like to participate, you’d be furthering local scientific studies at a very low cost to you, and if not, you can always pop over to their web page and take a look at the frankly beautiful quick shots of nature. Science may not always be exciting, but it sure can be pretty, regardless.

The Boulder Series Part 4: Voice and Sight, is it Right for You?

The Boulder Series

As winter gives way to spring, the heat is slowly returning to the Colorado front range, and that means that Boulder residents are returning to their favorite warm weather past times. For many, this means going out hiking with their dogs in tow. Boulder is home to hundreds of canine companions, and it’s no strange occurrence to come across proud pet owners and their pups on the popular trials near town. To many outdoor enthusiasts, it’s also a great opportunity to let their dogs loose to romp in nature. The legality of such a practice can be blurry, which is where a dog tag, normally called a Voice and Sight tag comes into play.

Voice and Sight tags are issued by OSMP (Open Space and Mountain Parks) to indicate that the dog wearing them is properly trained to be off leash, meaning they are under the voice and sight control of their owners and guardians at all times. It is law in Colorado that all dogs caught off leash while out hiking must have them displayed on their collars.

To be able to receive a proud purple tag, dogs must prove their vaccination records, and owners must attend a free one-hour class on training and dog handling, and pay a registration fee.

For Boulder city residents, this registration fee is $13 dollars. For Boulder County residents, $33 dollars. For those who come out of town to enjoy the trails around Boulder, the cost of the tag is $75 dollars. There are also renewal fees that come around every year between November and February. Registration and tags can be completed and purchased online, as well.

It can certainly seem like a steep price to pay, especially if one is unsure that the need to prove their dog’s capability to respond to command will ever arise. However, even these costs are less than that of the ticket hikers will receive if they are unlucky enough to be caught. The first offense for not having the tag on an unleashed animal is a maximum of $100 dollars, and every infraction after the first in the following twenty-four months is charged another hundred dollars, plus other fines.

A benefit to the tags, though, is that they are recognized throughout most of the hiking trails nearest to Boulder, so there are many opportunities to the use the tag once registered. Maps on bouldercolorado.gov show all of the trails where your buddy is allowed to run free with Voice and Sight tags.

Trails that do not, for a quick reference, include the NCAR hiking trail, and the first stretches of the Chautauqua and Enchanted Mesa trails, in which dogs are mandated to be leashed. Also, McClintock Upper is a no dogs allowed trail, which has reported popular bear activity in the area. Hike a little deeper into the rich mountain terrain, though, and you should be set.

And, if you aren’t the type to unleash your pet while out in the wilderness, you need not worry about the tags at all, they’re only a concern for those who hearts and paws love to wander.

The Boulder Series Part 3: Finding the Right Dog

The Boulder Series

Getting the opportunity to visit your local shelter in search of a new dog is a joyous event that brightens the lives of not only the humans who get to bring home a new friend, but also the pups who get to settle into loving forever homes. Forever homes are the ideal for any shelter, of course, but there are a lot of factors that go into that decision, and each and every person adopting a new pet should take seriously and pause to consider.

There are many tests and quizzes online from places like the American Kennel Society and Animal Planet that are great for narrowing down your choices and comparing different breeds, and if you have the chance to select a pup purely by breed, these are great resources for you. However, many shelters might not have the one kind of dog that you’d been told to look for online, so it is still important to know what factors are going into this decision and keep them in mind as you look around.

The first thing a person adopting will need to consider is what kind of size of a pet you want. Take your living space into account on this issue. If you live in an apartment, it’s likely that a Great Dane is not the dog for you. Energy level is another factor many people overlook in the face of a cute dog. There are some breeds, like Pit Bulls and Huskies, that are commonly very high energy. They might be a great partner for a person who loves going on runs, or going hiking, but not so much for someone who comes home from a long day only looking for a short trip out and then an evening of calmness.

Temperament is something many new pet owners are looking for, but this qualification includes other factors like how much time a person has to spend on training their new dog each week, if they’ve owned a dog in the past and are more experienced or not, and whether or not the person looking has kids, or if they are expecting to have them soon. There are certainly breeds that love to love and are great with families, like the popular Golden Retriever or a Labrador. These breeds are commonly very loyal and easy to train, great for first time dog owners. A dog like a Shiba-Inu, however, are commonly more independent in nature, less cuddly and more stubborn.

In these decisions, it is important to talk to the employees of the shelter you’re visiting. Ask them questions, let them know what you need, and make sure to address any concerns you have right off the bat. Those lovely people are truly your best resource when making a decision on a certain furry friend, and there’s no reason to be shy about what you as a pet owner will need to make both you and your new pet as happy as the both of you can be. Keep these few tips in mind, and look online for different quizzes to narrow down your choices, and you are another step closer is finding your perfect pet and giving a lucky pup a forever home.

The Boulder Series Part 2: CU Boulder and Comfort Animals

The Boulder Series

Ordinarily, CU Boulder is seen as a liberal leaning, animal friendly campus with daily visits of dogs belonging to students and locals alike. It’s no rare thing to see pups of all ages and sizes out playing fetch or taking a stroll, especially on the campus’ largest open quads, such as Farrand Field or the Norlin Quadrangle. Though with mental illness becoming more frequently reported by students, it’s becoming apparent? that one growing source of self-care is still unfortunately banned by most universities.

Mental health issues have been growing on college campuses for years, and as conversations about them finally take center stage in our country, gaping holes in care are becoming achingly apparent. Surveys from the year 2000 done by the American College Health Association showed even then that a staggering 38% of 16,000 students reported feeling so depressed it was hard to function. And this was eighteen years ago. Luckily, more conversations also call for more treatments, and one popular treatment for a variety of mental illnesses’ comes in the form of a pet.

Many people today diagnosed with anxiety, depression, and other common ailments have turned to what is called a “comfort animal,” a kind of therapy pet. This animal takes on different forms for different folks, from tarantulas to lizards to dogs, dependent on what kind of critter gives an individual peace. Unfortunately, variation in pet doesn’t account for much when all animals are still not allowed in dorms or college sponsored housing.

It is not uncommon for students these days to find themselves financially unable to consider any kind of housing options past what their university offers, and it is no secret that real estate in Boulder does not come cheap. And a job might be out of the question for an individual who is already a student and struggling with mental care. Currently, these students don’t have many options.

CU does bring in the local Therapy Dogs of Boulder County every so often during finals week, which is always a very popular event. However, having access to a pet for one week out of every semester for some simply isn’t enough. CU also offers some leeway, as comfort animals are protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act, but even still students might be turned away and not given the treatment they need.

A large reason for these hesitations on CU’s part come from the complexity and lack of regulation around the issue. How does one determine a therapy pet from just a regular pet? What proof would a student need? What would happen to students in dorms who have allergies and phobias of certain animals? There are also concerns for property damage, animal disruptions, and having the ability to house an animal in a humane way. For those who have these concerns, this list of complications to the issue seem like reason to put a halt on any kind of change, as many universities have done in the past. Yet, change may force itself as all across America the costs that comes with the lawsuits from students who were denied pets begins to dramatically outweigh the costs of refurbishing a dorm. Some students have received hundreds of thousands of dollars from colleges who turned their therapy pets away, and there are sure to be more similar cases on the horizon.

Clearly, the solution to the problem would come much quicker with clearer litigation and well thought out execution. Perhaps part of the answer could be specific animal friendly dorms, as CU already has Bear Creek apartments and Williams Village off sight for students. CU loves to share its statistics about its successes as an institute of learning, and that has in the past included the mental wellbeing of those who pass through their halls. Why stop her here?

The Boulder Series Part 1: Boulder and the Bee Crisis

The Boulder Series

I wanted to include in this blog several short animal focused articles I wrote for my home town. If you’re not a local, you still may have heard of us. Probably the most left leaning city in the state, possibly the Midwest. If you’re from California, I know you’ve heard of us because half of you are already moving here. Tommy Chong’s son lives around here somewhere, and Chong himself once praised us as the “hippie capital of the west”, so we’ve got that too. Happy reading!

It is common knowledge that the bee population across the world is in peril. Which is no small thing, considering their importance. At least a third of all of the world’s food supply relies on the pollination habit of bees, flowers, of course, rely on bees, and in fact most kinds of fruit and berries and general plant life would cease to exist without them. In recent years, the largest contributor to the death of these fuzzy insects has been insecticide, something humanity may only be learning too late as the numbers of bees on our planet continue to dwindle away.

However, there is still hope for the bees, and of course Boulder, Colorado is home to dozens of different bee communities who are all working toward the same goal, befriend the bee. As it happens, Boulder itself has been a major honey producer since the late 1800’s. Our climate and our local plant life are very attractive to the average bee, which has presented an opportunity to the city to now give back in the bee’s time of need.

The Boulder County Beekeeper’s Association runs a blog discussing all of the latest legal battles and victories across the country, and across the world with a helpful forum for beekeepers young and old to discuss their challenges and share their secrets to a larger community. They have classes for new beekeepers and meetings to discuss upcoming changes and the latest programs, the next one coming in early July.

Local government is getting involved too in what is called the Bolder Pollinator Garden Project. It is exactly how it sounds; special bee friendly gardens are being established around the city to encourage our local counts of wild bees in the area, and any and all gardeners willing to help out can add their locations to the list. The gardens have special requirements beyond simply being a garden. The project’s website encourages the use of local plant life, flowers that bloom all season, of course, but also a safe place for bees to find a nest, and reminders to provide lots of food for local caterpillars, since butterflies are also major pollinators. The biggest requirement though would probably take form in the ban of any kind of pesticide use on your garden. Currently, there are six gardens around the greater Boulder area that are contributing to the cause.

Boulder’s private sector also has a stake in the survival of bees, including one local honey producer called Highland Honey. They produce the kind of honey Boulderites love: raw, medicinal, delicious. They also have information on their website about beekeeping and common facts about their bees and their product that the public should know. They offer mentoring, as well as a place to buy certain kinds of bees and bee keeping supplies, and are truly trying to give something back the community.

The luckiest part of all of these people working together, is that we stand the chance of making a real difference to the bee community, and it’s easy to find a way to get involved no matter how much you want to do. Every little thing matters, from growing a garden, raising caterpillars with your children, and stopping the use of pesticides on your own land. And if your interest goes beyond casual and you’re looking to become much more involved in the local bee community, there are many facets for you to jump into, and maybe even become a new beekeeper yourself.